Andrew Janssen wrote:

> Jeff, to what extent are espiri "protected" from their own magic? To be 
> specific, the Scirus gleam allows the espiri to perform mathematical 
> calculations. What happens when the espiri tries to:
> 
> A) Calculate the ratio between a circle's diameter & circumference;
> 
> B) Calculate the even-numbered root of a negative number;
> 
> C) Divide by zero?
> 
> For B & C, I could see the spell simply failing, but with A, or any 
> other attempt to calculate an irrational number, could the espiri become 
> trapped in a sort of infinite loop of calculation?

First, see the story "Sweetness and Light" 
(http://www.meanspc.com/~jeff_wilson63/fiction/Sweetness.html)

For case A) any calculation or measurement rite requires an espiri to 
define how much accuracy is acceptable. If he or she fails to define that, 
the result is a series of numbers which the espiri's mind cannot contain. 
In gaming terms, this is a critical failure of the rite. Depending on the 
espiri's ability he may babble numbers, fall unconscious, or simply realize 
the mistake and accept the backlash to stop the rite in mid-progress. I 
suppose an espiri could attempt to control the spell past the number of 
digits his mind can hold and end up taking physical damage, but I can't see 
that happening on Celandra.

For cases B) and C) you must remember that the calculation rite doesn't add 
mathematical ability. An espiri can only perform those calculation quickly 
which he could otherwise do by hand. So, in these cases, the result is more 
dependent on the results the espiri would get if he made the calculations 
by hand. Since imaginary numbers are mystically useful I'd be surprised if 
that idea didn't exist on Qaiyore, but I'm almost positive that the 
calculus to properly handle C) doesn't exist yet.

Jefferson
http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html


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